THE CONVERSATION
22 talk and make those tough calls when we need to so that we ensure our culture is more than words on paper . This goes for everyone . No one is exempt .
VH : Yes ! There ’ s no special pass for senior leaders . This trust is so important . Our customers trust us , our team members trust us , our communities trust us because we always try to do the right thing . That ’ s something that comes from the top and permeates throughout our company .
We have a program here at Dell called Be the Change , which focuses on topics related to inclusion . All team members participate , starting at the top with our senior leaders . Michael went through the training ; as did his leaders and their leaders , and all team members . Everyone participates . This is another step in our journey towards awareness . We didn ’ t just start educating our people on diversity and inclusion two years ago when George Floyd was murdered . This is something we ’ ve been doing for years and is where culture and authenticity matter .
How is leadership training fundamental to establishing the company culture ? JS : We build empathetic leadership here at Dell . We teach our leaders not to assume they know what their team members need . As we ’ ve been shifting and adjusting during the past two years , we encourage our leaders to think of it as re-onboarding : Openly talk with your team members about what they need or want out of flexibility .
The goal is for our leaders and their teams to feel supported . We have a highperformance culture , so we want our leaders to know that we ’ ll still get the job done , but it ’ s okay to get it done in a different way . It ’ s priceless for team members to have that level of empathy from their leaders .
VH : We also provide training to make our leadership goals actionable . In 2020 , we put all leaders — and I mean all of them — through empathy training while we learned to work in this hyper-remote world .
We ’ ve learned that social connection is the greatest predictor of long-term happiness . We have worked with our leaders to uncover new ways to connect , getting past the idea that connection is forged at the water cooler . Leadership that enables team members to thrive means more people are happy and want to stay at Dell .
What can companies do to thrive in this hiring market ? JS : Never forget that your secret weapon is retention . We provide opportunities for lateral and upward mobility . We ’ ve built certification programs , employee resource groups , sales universities , and learning and development programs . We are equally as invested in growing and retaining our internal team members as we are in attracting additional qualified talent .
But we do expect a global tech shortage of 4.3 million by 2030 . This shortage will require us to simultaneously widen our recruitment nets and dig deeper into our current talent pool to continue to have the best talent in technology .
VH : Absolutely . We look for talent in a wide variety of places like community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities . We also partner with professional groups such as